Lost in the Space Between

Chapter 2

Jackson's POV;

I stare at Oliver in complete disbelief. Gay? Me? I thought Oliver was joking around, and I waited for the punchline to come rolling around, but it never really came in the end. So apparently, this was no joke at all. Oliver Benson, the boy I met today who is in all of my classes, is asking me if I'm gay. I mean, am I? I can't be. I've kissed girls before. Then I remember. Ah shit. I've kissed a guy before as well. "G-Gay? Me? I-" But as soon as I look up, Oliver's gone. Out the door. Hasta luego, bitch. As in me, I'm the bitch who didn't give Oliver the response he wanted. At least Oliver didn't leave his frozen yogurt behind. I pull out my phone to dial mum, but then I remember that me and Oliver walked here together and I don't know how to get back to my neighborhood without some guide. I hear the front door of the shop swing open and Oliver is standing there, frozen yogurt in one hand, holding the door open with the other.

"Hey, asshole," he smiles softly at me, as if nothing had just happened. But, in the way his eyes glisten, Oliver is truly hurt that I didn't give him the response he wanted. "I forgot that I have to walk you home." I sigh and go over to Oliver, throwing the rest of my frozen yogurt out. I'm not even hungry anymore, my stomach is churning inside of me and I can't think straight.

"Oliver, I should be apologizing to you," I say, looking down at the ground. "I totally bloody blew you off." Oliver looks at me confusingly.

"How so?" He leads me outside by the hand, so that we're walking side by side, our forearms practically touching. My heart does flips inside of me, beating at miles per hour.

"I never even answered your question," I say softly, looking Oliver in the eyes. I sigh, not believing myself for what I'm about to say. "I don't even know if I like girls or guys." Oliver smiles sheepishly at me, his cheeks turning this pale shade of red.

"Yeah, I understand," he begins, "it's happened to me too." I give no hesitation and I lunge in to hug him, tackling him to the ground, knocking us both over. "AH, SHIT!" Oliver hits his head against the pavement, leaving a small pool of blood where his head hit it. I manage to scramble off of him, beginning to panic. 

"God save the bloody queen! I'm incredibly sorry, Oliver!" I scavenge through my pocket for some sort of napkin that I might have. I pull out a few napkins that I took from the frozen yogurt shop, get down on my knees, and start using the napkins as a sponge to clean the blood up.

"God dammit.. My vision's getting kind of blurry.." Oliver puts a hand on his forehead, as if it was going to help in any way at all, whatsoever.

"Hold on, let me call 911," I say as I pull my phone out, but Oliver's already passed out.

                                                                                    ------- 

I sit in the waiting room with Oliver's mum and sister. I learned that their names are Jennifer and Olivia. We all make small talk with one another, but the police are asking me questions about what happened to Oliver, and for a moment I think they're going to arrest me. After the officers leave the hospital, I glance over at Jennifer and Olivia, who are talking to one another. I notice that Oliver has no features from his mother nor his sister, and it makes me wonder if he got them from his dad. Both his mum and sister have black hair and bright, round green eyes. They almost look like twin sisters and Jennifer didn't have a white streak in her hair. Then, it makes me wonder where Oliver's dad is, maybe he's running late. I see Oliver's mum and sister get up and walk into Oliver's room, and I suspect that it's time to go in and say hello.

"Oh, I hope he's alright," I hear his mum whisper to his sister.

"I do too," Olivia says in response, playing around with a strand of her hair. I, in which I agree with both women, also want Oliver to be okay since part of the reason Oliver's here is because I brutally tackled him to the ground. My phone rings and it's mum, probably calling to see how I am. I answer the call.